The University of Queensland Alumni Reception in London

Thank you, Sarah, for your kind introduction, and for this wonderful and unique opportunity to be with you all; Kaye and I are truly honoured that you have taken time to join us this evening.

We are especially keen to see you all enjoy tonight, both as a celebration of our magnificent alma mater (of which Kaye and I are both graduates), but also of the enduring influence and presence of remarkable fellow Queenslanders, indeed all Australians, here in London.

Queensland has a reputation globally as an utterly reliable and stable provider of natural resources, as the world’s most desirable holiday destination (thanks in no small part to the recent InBetweeners movie!), as a leader of international education and, increasingly, for providing expert professional services and a strategic base for businesses seeking to enter the emerging markets in Asia and the Pacific.

And it is no surprise to those gathered here tonight, that UQ’s fingerprints are all over these achievements, giving UQ an enviable international reputation. This, I suggest, is partly for two reasons: the first, The University of Queensland is one of Australia's premier research institutions, a quality endorsed by global university rankings, which consistently rank UQ in the world’s top 100. UQ research output has global impact, demonstrated most conspicuously by the fact that 170 million doses of Gardasil, an anti-cervical cancer vaccine co-invented by the inimitable Professor Ian Frazer at a UQ-research facility in Brisbane, have been distributed so far world-wide.

The second reason for the enviable reputation abroad is because of you, the Alumni. You are living and breathing success in your chosen endeavour, and of this, we can all be rightly proud. UQ Alumni are part of a truly global community of more than 215,000 graduates across 150 countries – 1500 of them in the UK at any one time – actively shaping our world and fulfilling UQ’s vision of ‘knowledge leadership for a better world.’

The University of Queensland has also played a rather conspicuous role in my journey to becoming Governor of Queensland, not only because being educated at such a fine institution is increasingly becoming a predictor of who becomes Governor (I am the sixth consecutive UQ graduate to be appointed to the position), but because I am the sixteenth vice-regal forced to live in exile on a faraway hilltop in Paddington, after the previous Governors’ residence, Old Government House in Gardens Point in the CBD, was converted for use as the first classrooms at the newly-formed University of Queensland in 1911.  

Kaye and I offer our heartfelt congratulations to you all. Living and working in London is a much-celebrated rite of passage for some Australians - indeed, many of you have, and will, stay for decades, crafting a hopefully fulfilling life, of your choosing, for you and your families. You are all truly inspirational people, and Kaye and I applaud you, whole-heartedly, for sharing your UQ education, and living, in the fullest sense, as contributing, worldly citizens.